Simulação e análise de Cortinas de Ar - modelo CFD de lojas com ligação ao exterior

11/18/2024

Air curtains are devices powered by a fan that create an invisible barrier of air between different environments without limiting the access of people or vehicles, unlike cold doors or curtains. With the growing concern regarding energy consumption, research into energy efficiency of these curtains in commercial environments becomes essential. The aim is to quantify the impact of different external temperatures on the efficiency of an air curtain in a store located in the Lisbon metropolitan area. To do this, Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations were used. Due to the complexity of the simulation, the process was divided into three phases: micro, meso and macro scale studies of a diffuser, to reduce the number of computational cells; verification through a mesh convergence analysis; and validation of the jet behaviour, comparing with analytical results. The results showed that the efficiency of the air curtain was maximized for winter cases, where the use of the curtain allowed a significant reduction of the energy needed to heat the internal environment, with small temperature differences still resulting in energy savings compared to the case without a curtain. However, in summer situations, the curtain proved to be less efficient, requiring a greater temperature difference between the spaces to justify the energy consumption of an air curtain.

Authors in the community:

• 

  A

  André Ferreira Ibarra Costa Duarte

  ist196350

Supervisors of this institution:

• 

  J

  José Manuel Da Silva Chaves Ribeiro Pereira

  ist14442

mechanical-engineering - Mechanical engineering

por - Portuguese

Instituto Superior Técnico